Nigerian artificial intelligence insurtech start-up, Curacel, has raised $450,000 pre-seed funding.
The funding round was led by Atlantic Ventures and Consonance. Other participation was from Kepple Apple Ventures and other African angel investors.
Curacel, through its AI-powered system, works by figuring out whether a claim is true (or not) while detecting and flagging false and fraudulent claims.
With this technology, Curacel delivers solution that helps insurance companies to automate their claims and limit risks, further ensuring that they can provide premium services to their clients and still be profitable.
Asides serving insurance companies directly, Curacel creates a link between insurance companies and primary care hospitals, travel agencies, automobile companies, and security outfits.
Commenting on the development, Curacel co-founder and CEO, Henry Mascot, said:
“We are excited to have these investors on board and we are looking forward to partnering with them to drive our vision of improving insurance inclusion across Africa. At Curacel, we are uniquely positioned to safeguard livelihoods and increase the quality of life through our unique, market-leading products and services.“
Ik Kanu, partner at Atlantica Ventures, also made comments on the funding round. He said:
“We are delighted to be partnering with Curacel to drive growth in this sector. There is an opportunity to create an entirely new market of products and services here and we look forward to supporting the team to improve health outcomes across the continent.”
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The insurtech startup, which already works with some of the biggest insurance companies on the continent, plans to expand into 10 new African countries by the end of 2021.
Curacel currently works with insurance companies like AXA Mansard, Liberty Health, and Old Mutual, as well as more than 800 hospitals in Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda.
Curacel is also working on launching Curacel Capital, which would be a cash advance product that makes it easier for healthcare providers to access working capital to mitigate financial challenges.
With Curacel Capital, healthcare providers would be able to access lump sums (of up to three times their average monthly billings) based on claims processed on the Curacel portal.
This would ensure that healthcare providers are able to continue to deliver essential services without undue disruption.
Curacel was adopted into the S Factory Pre-acceleration Programme in 2016. The program, which is a spin-off of Start-Up Chile, gave Curacel access to a $15,000 equity-free fund.